Shout the Call

“Blimey, good afternoon you two,” Jim said, looking up from his paper, “You have a good sleep?”

I nodded at Jim. It was all I could do other from turning every shade of red imaginable. Aaron was his usual cool, unflappable self. He ruffled his unruly bed hair.

“Hey Jim,” he yawned before looking at me sleepily.

“It’s a bit late for breakfast, right Bea?” he asked, a small smile breaking on his face; was he thinking about our night of passion? “What about we go and get lunch and coffee?”

“Sounds like a plan,” I replied, mentally trying to decide upon an outfit.

******

I washed and changed quickly before Aaron had chance to steal our tiny bathroom. I opted for a casual ensemble; black leggings, my oversized lumberjack shirt and my beat up, worn out Converse. Whilst Aaron was busy getting himself ready, I slumped down on the settee next to Jim. He looked at me with a knowing smile.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing,” He replied, smiling even wider.

I looked down at my hands and realised I was wringing them. Get a grip, I told myself, how old are you again? And then Aaron appeared in my peripheral vision. I turned round completely to take in the sight in front of me and wondered if my jaw had actually hit the floor or whether it was all just in my head.

“You ready Bea?”

“Um what?”

“Ready to go?”

“Oh, yes – sorry,” I said, tumbling quickly out of my daydream. I stood up slowly and looked around to Jim.

“See you later,” I said rather blankly.

“Cathy a later chuck; have a good ‘un.” Jim said, waving us off.

Aaron flashed a wink at Jim and pulled me outside. He slammed the door behind him.

“Take no notice of him, honey,” Aaron said defensively, which struck me as odd, “he’s just being nosy.”

“Don’t be silly,” I replied, “I really like Jim. He’s like my Dad.”

“Right,” Aaron said sharply before closing his hand tightly around mine.

We walked and walked until we practically stumbled upon a cobbled alleyway with a quaint little café at the end. We had only got a few steps in when Aaron pushed me up against the wall.

“What are you doing?” I half shouted, half whispered, my voice trembling.

“I need you, NOW!” he replied breathlessly into my ear before kissing down my neck.

“Here? Really?”

“Yes. Really!”

“Can’t it wait?” I asked.

“Nope,” Aaron replied, now kissing my collar bone under my shirt. I pushed him away.

“As much as I’m enjoying every minute of this,” I sighed into his hair, “It really isn’t the time or the place. Let’s just go get our coffee and food; I’m sure we can find time later.”

“But,” Aaron said, immediately deflating.

“No Aaron. Later, please.” I said. I wanted to kick myself for being so prudish. I really didn’t want Aaron to keep his hands off me but the risk of anyone walking past freaked me out. Not only would they witness one hell of a make out session, they would also see Aaron’s fangs being bared and I’m sure we would both be in a shit heap of trouble.

Aaron smoothed his unkempt looking hair back and straightened out his clothes whilst I did the same. In unison, we let out a deep breath, held hands and headed straight for the coffee shop.

******

“Madam, Monsieur – please take a seat,” the waiter greeted us.

“Merci beaucoup,” Aaron said, surprising me and the waiter, “je voudrais commander deux Americano café de, s’il vous plait.”

“Certainly Monsieur,” our waiter replied, I’m sure only speaking English to help keep me abreast of the conversation, “Two café Americano’s coming up. Would Sir and Madam like anything else?”

“Oui, fromage et des biscuits à part s’il vous plait et pouding au chocolat a suivre.”

“An excellent choice Sir and may I say, our chocolate tart is exquisite.”

“Merci beaucoup, encore une fois.” Aaron replied and I pretty much knew that meant.
Regardless of what Aaron had ordered, he sounded amazing and that’s all I could compute.

“Where did you learn that?” I asked, secretly hoping he would answer me in French. Whether I would understand was another story.

“School,” he answered simply.

“I took French at school, Aaron and there’s no way I would have remembered all that and sounded so good saying it.”

“Right, yeah,” Aaron said, looking down and rubbing the small amount of stubble on his chin. “I suppose it comes with the territory really.”

“How do you mean?” I asked as the waiter came back, placing our coffee’s on the table. Aaron smiled and nodded at him and waited for him to get out of earshot.

“Well, I did learn French at school, that’s no lie. It was way back in eighteen ninety seven though.”

“You were born in eighteen ninety seven?” I asked, dumbfounded.

“No. Weren’t you listening?” Aaron asked. I half nodded, half shook my head, “That’s when I started to learn the language; I was eleven. Which means,” He said smiling, pausing for dramatic effect and allowing me to try and get my head around what he was imparting, “I was born in eighteen eighty six. I am one hundred and twenty seven years old. Don’t say it; I’m looking good right?”

I couldn’t answer. I was utterly dumbstruck. I had read the books and watched all the films where the vampires always seemed to be about one thousand years old or some crap like that, but this was real.

“Actually, you’re looking more than good,” I replied, “you look so good that you barely look a day over twenty one,” a fact that annoyed me as well as amazed me.

“Aww, thanks Bea, I love you even more for that,” Aaron replied as he leant in over the table to place a chaste kiss on my slightly open mouth. “I died when I was twenty seven. The year was nineteen-thirteen.”

“How did you die?” I asked, feeling a deep sense of sadness fill my chest.

“I contracted smallpox, which was rife at the time, and before it went too far and tried to kill me, I found a man that could help me.”

“A man who could help?”

“Yes,” Aaron nodded, “you see Bea, smallpox was such a horrible disease. Good friends and members of my family contracted it too; not one of them survived. The moment I started with the fever, I was offered a way out.”

“The ‘man’ offered it to you?”

“Yes,” Aaron answered me again.

“So, did he kill you?”

“Not exactly honey,” Aaron answered, “he offered me eternal life if I wanted it.”

“And you did, obviously.”

“Who wouldn’t Bea? I was too young to die. I was fortunate to have savings; savings I had worked hard for since the age of thirteen. I saved every penny I earned once I had fed and clothed myself. No one knew of my nest egg. Most people around me were pretty much destitute and struggled to live by their means as it was so I didn’t want to rub anyone’s nose in it. Maybe I should have helped them out, but we were all in the same boat.”

I was listening so intently to Aaron that it felt like there was absolutely no one else in the café.

“I wanted to see the world Bea,” Aaron continued, “and I craved knowledge. I needed to learn everything I could possibly learn. To do that, I could not meet the same fate that had met so many others. That’s where James, or as you know him, Jim came in.”

“Jim?” I asked; once again, totally flabbergasted. The waiter came towards us with our food and Aaron quieted me, stopping whatever I was going to say next by putting his finger to my lips.

“Bon apetit!” the waiter exclaimed as he placed a slate slab in the middle of us, full of biscuits, cheeses and grapes, “Jour de; enjoy.”

Aaron nodded, itching to get back to his story.

“All clear,” I whispered as the waiter disappeared from view.

“So, James ‘Jim’ Edwards is the wonderful man that turned me,” Aaron went on, “He offered me an alternative; the best possible one.”

“Without sounding completely stupid, I guess that means he bit you, right?” I asked, feeling just as I had said – completely stupid.

“That’s correct. He drained me almost to empty before allowing me to take his blood and that, as they say, is history.”

“Did it hurt?” I asked, “Can you even remember that far back?”

“Actually, it feels like only yesterday, Bea. Did it hurt? Well, it was very uncomfortable at first but once Jim had punctured my skin and took first blood, the whole time he was feeding on me felt euphoric. I felt as close to what I perceive Heaven to be like in that moment. I think that’s why Jim and me have this connection; this unbreakable bond. I was reborn, all thanks to him.”

It felt like a lump was forming in my throat, I was struggling to swallow it down. It sounded so perfect; if it wasn’t for Jim, I would never have even got the chance to obsess over Aaron Holmes, let alone be here, out on tour with him.

“Did Jim turn the others too?”

“Nope that was all my handiwork Bea.”

“So when, and where, did you find them?”

“Ask me what my favourite era was?” Aaron said, “Well at least up until now, anyway.” He smiled over at me and stroked my crossed hands on the table. He took an almost gargantuan bite out of a hunk of bread and cheese.

“What was your favourite era honey?”

“The seventies were unreal,” Aaron replied, “it was all about awesome music, free love and drugs – I did it all!”

“The ‘free love’ bit too?”

“Hell yeah,” he answered, “and I’ll let you in on a little secret too; I didn’t just enjoy women.”

I actually found that pretty easy to believe. Aaron has this charm and charisma and along with devastatingly good looks, I could see why both women and men would want him.

“So you slept with men too then huh?”

Aaron nodded proudly.

“The whole world seemed to open up before me,” he went on, “and I have to admit, I felt greedy. I wanted to try everything. I never thought of myself as gay, straight, bi or whatever. I was just me; I always will be. Here’s the thing though, I never fell in love back then and I’ve never loved anyone until you came along.”

A huge smile spread across my face. I couldn’t speak for grinning.

“So, no matter what happened in my past, Bea; you’re my now and my future – there will never be anyone else but you.”

With one last bite, Aaron had finished his food. I, on other hand, had barely taken a nibble.

“You not going to eat that?” he asked, glaring at what was left on the slab between us.

“I think I’m past being hungry now honey,” I answered, “You won’t get near my chocolate tart though, that’s a fact. Anyway, carry on.”

Aaron recounted how he met Tim, Alex, Liam and Jack at a Cream gig and found they were almost bigger fans than he was. They ended up in a little pub in Soho with Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker; it got messy. They had an amazing time and although Aaron didn’t want to ruin anything, he couldn’t keep them in the dark about what he was. It may have been that they were all high on drugs and alcohol or it may have been that they didn’t believe a word Aaron had said but the five stuck together, eventually holing up in a ramshackle apartment on the outskirts of Camden. It was only once they began living together that he realised he had a ready-made band; Tim on drums, Alex on bass guitar, Liam on lead guitar and Jack on rhythm. The apartment had a basement which became their practice pad and studio and within months they had recorded and produced their very first demo. They passed it on to Jim, who had, in the meantime, singlehandedly set up his own label, ‘A Drop of Claret’ (aptly named, don’t you think?).

“And that’s how Shout the Call came to be,” Aaron said paternally, “I had everyone I needed around me. I was so happy for them and for myself. Without me, there would never have been a band and it was a band of best friends. We were so very close back in the day and one of the guys was keen on getting even closer.”

If this was an ‘on-the-record’ interview, it would have been the exclusive New Music; Non Stop would have killed for but I’m glad I have my morals intact in this cut throat, sometimes seedy, industry. Hundreds and thousands of fans didn’t need to know any of this. I didn’t want them to know.

“Who was it Aaron? Who wanted more?”

“Oh man, I really don’t know if I should say,” Aaron teased, “and anyway, if ever he found out, that would be the end of our friendship and the end of the band, for sure.”

“No way,” I said, sounding far too eager, “You can’t do that! You have to tell me now.”

“Bea, you have to swear you’ll never tell a soul!” he said seriously, “The only other person that has any idea about this is Jim and he appreciates how important a secret it is.”

“I do Aaron, I swear on my life!”